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Frequently Bought Together
Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Cash Machine |
| 2. Middle Eastern Holiday |
| 3. Tied Up Too Tight |
| 4. Gotta Reason |
| 5. Hard To Beat |
| 6. Unnecessary Trouble |
| 7. Move On Now |
| 8. Better Do Better |
| 9. Feltham Is Singing Out |
| 10. Living For The Weekend |
| 11. Stars OF CCTV |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Road-tested in a car speeding the mean streets of Staines, Stars Of CCTV - the debut album from Middlesex’s Hard-Fi – consciously sets out to update the sense of frustrated tension and suburban dread that powered second-wave ska acts like The Specials and The Beat back at the close of the ‘70s.
Don’t get it twisted, this isn’t ska-punk a la Brit troupers [Spunge] and Capdown: Hard-Fi play this music lean and moody, like The Streets on downers, or Massive Attack plugging in and tuning up. "Cash Machine" sees a swallowed debit card as the jump-off for vocalist Richard Archer to spin a tale of crushing poverty and unwanted pregnancy, spurred along by thrumming dub bass and the sad wheeze of a vibraphone. They do upbeat as well, as club anthem "Hard To Beat" – a heart-fluttering composite of Northern Soul elation and fist-pumping Rockers reggae – joyfully confirms. But it’s the emotional struggle, the ups and downs of life, that keeps Stars Of CCTV engaging throughout: see penultimate track "Living For The Weekend", a hedonistic blast filled with not a little of the passion that fuelled Oasis’ Definitely Maybe, which succeeds chiefly because it’s all too aware of the bad times as well as the good. --Louis Pattison
Product Description
HARD-FI Stars Of CCTV (2005 Taiwanese issue 11-track CD album featuring the singles Hard To Beat Tied Up Too Tight and Living For The Weekend sealed with a unique obi-strip)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When I bought this album I had only actually heard 'Hard To Beat', which I thought was an OK song. The album reviews intrigued me, particularly with the Ska and Clash references. Now this is the only current album on my car stereo - it has a great beat and feel that makes it perfect for August summer evenings with the window down. This is a brillant debut and the hybrid Clash / Specials remark is spot on ( with a bit of The Jam thrown in, i.e. Living For The Weekend.)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is an incredibly accomplished debut album - a blistering set of songs with not one dud track amongst them. Weaving together a diverse range of influences, Hard-Fi spin tales of everyday life and love, but they somehow manage to turn this ordinary premise into a collection of tracks unlike anything you've heard before. Their influences encompass everything from traditional Britpop-indie to ska, dub, reggae, pop and dance, informing the nous and flexibility that made 'Hard to Beat', arguably the standout track, a club anthem as well as a festival favourite.
Every track crackles with energy - this is the raw sound of disenchanted youth on the edge of greatness, determined to break out of a grey backwater and head for the bright lights of the city. Anyone who's ever been stuck in a dead-end job will identify with frontman and songwriter Richard Archer's vignettes of everyday working-class life; there's the anguish of being broke on 'Cash Machine', the elation of a new crush on 'Hard to Beat', the bitterness of the subsequent break-up on 'Better Do Better', joy at the prospect of two days and nights of freedom on 'Living for the Weekend'. 'Middle Eastern Holiday' is as fierce and vitriolic an anti-war song as you'll hear anywhere, but like the rest of the tracks, it's written from a heart-wrenchingly personal point of view. Along with 'Feltham is Singing Out', it illustrates Hard-Fi's ability to tackle social issues with breathtaking effectiveness, while skilfully avoiding making their songs into political polemics. The title track is a fitting close to the album - a sublime paean to a world in which every move we make is caught on camera, it all hinges on Archer's sneering refrain of 'can't you see the camera loves me', his voice dripping with sarcasm. It's a song which captures the spirit of the album perfectly.
I can't recommend this stunning record highly enough; it's one of the most affecting, evocative and true-to-life albums I've ever heard. It deserves to be regarded as a true British classic - it's certainly on a par with (if not, dare I say it, better than) Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys' debuts. If this breathtaking album isn't already a part of your collection, it most definitely should be.
Every track crackles with energy - this is the raw sound of disenchanted youth on the edge of greatness, determined to break out of a grey backwater and head for the bright lights of the city. Anyone who's ever been stuck in a dead-end job will identify with frontman and songwriter Richard Archer's vignettes of everyday working-class life; there's the anguish of being broke on 'Cash Machine', the elation of a new crush on 'Hard to Beat', the bitterness of the subsequent break-up on 'Better Do Better', joy at the prospect of two days and nights of freedom on 'Living for the Weekend'. 'Middle Eastern Holiday' is as fierce and vitriolic an anti-war song as you'll hear anywhere, but like the rest of the tracks, it's written from a heart-wrenchingly personal point of view. Along with 'Feltham is Singing Out', it illustrates Hard-Fi's ability to tackle social issues with breathtaking effectiveness, while skilfully avoiding making their songs into political polemics. The title track is a fitting close to the album - a sublime paean to a world in which every move we make is caught on camera, it all hinges on Archer's sneering refrain of 'can't you see the camera loves me', his voice dripping with sarcasm. It's a song which captures the spirit of the album perfectly.
I can't recommend this stunning record highly enough; it's one of the most affecting, evocative and true-to-life albums I've ever heard. It deserves to be regarded as a true British classic - it's certainly on a par with (if not, dare I say it, better than) Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys' debuts. If this breathtaking album isn't already a part of your collection, it most definitely should be.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Not a huge amount to say - first of all, "Stars of CCTV" is a brilliant album title ! Cash Machine is a terrific opener and can be easily identified with by most of the people I know (excellent lyrics) - infact it sets the tone for the album perfectly. To be honest there isn't a song that's dislikeable on this album. There aren't many debut efforts that can deliver such crunching, head-bobbing, cleverly written songs and I'm delighted I bought this. Simply "Hard to Beat" !!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Has stood the test of time
Hard Fi - this was their moment. Key songwriter Richard Archer had fought long and heard to get his songs heard, and thank goodness somebody at Atlantic Records gave the man an... Read more
Published 5 months ago by BD
An outstanding album
Stars of CCtv is an amazing album, it is a ground breaking, Life affirming LP stuffed with future anthems and powerful melodies that linger in the mind and beg to be heard again... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Philippe
I don't like this band
I listened to this the other day and it was so bad I actually felt like self-harming. This is the worst thing I have ever heard in my life I think I would rather listen to kittens... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. K. L. Kinsella
Top Album, Hard To Beat
This is an album filled with big, hairy stadium anthems cash machine, hard to beat and living for the weekend. Read more
Published 13 months ago by ekb
Superb album, shame about the case.
Absolutely great album, not stopped playing it since i got it. The only issue I have was that the case was in poor conditioned considering I bought it as new.
Published 23 months ago by Mr. Jeffrey P. Thomson
I'm old enough to know better but I don't!
Quite simply this is my favourite album of all time and I am in my fifties. With most albums I get tired of listening to the same artist/artistes. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2010 by Guinness Lover
whats not to like
fanatstic debut album. good lyrics, great beats. definitely a band going places. put it on your xmas list
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by D. Lomas
Excellent.
One of the hallmarks of a great album, particularly in the 60s and 70s, was that every song on it would make a killer single. Read more
Published on 24 July 2008 by dynamitekid156
Quality stuff
Hard-Fi are reaching for a great tradition of British Bands whose social conciences need venting. Sometimes this can be patronising or downright annoying but thankfully this is... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2008 by Phil Hattie
Hard-Fidelity All-Stars
You can't move for guitar bands. Standing there... looking all promotional shot, wielding their instruments, trying to sing lyrics that say something (ma'hn). Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2007 by Merry Terry
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